The automatic recognition of bank notes and other securities is an important concern in the bank area as well as, for example, at the point of sale. The construction of hardware is not unimportant for a trouble-free transport of bank notes and the quality of the reading process. It should make possible a high processing speed. The precision and performance capacity of the hardware frequently leads to high equipment costs owing to which market opportunities can be perceptibly reduced.
A device for examining the authenticity of individual bank notes at the point of sale is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,040. It is outfitted with two optical scanners lying directly opposite each other in order to scan the front and reverse side of the bank note. Rollers for transporting the bank notes are provided in front of and behind the scanners. The rod-like optical scanners are constructed for digitalization and detection of the numbers printed on the notes. The notes are transported and processed longitudinally.
Rod-like optical scanners are known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,992 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,273, for example, and are obtainable on the market.
A note recognition device is known from DE 39 17 419 A1 wherein the bank note is illuminated with a light source for testing value and authenticity which covers at least two different wavelength ranges. The reflected light is detected with two different sensors (green light and red light sensor) and recorded line by line. A difference signal is determined and compared with a specified pattern for recognition.
The known devices are unsatisfactory in mechanical and electronic respects.